Dr. R. O. Tripp, "Forty-niner," Passes Away
REDWOOD CITY, March 31.--In the rear of the little store that he had hurriedly built of rough redwood slabs 60 years ago to serve the gold hunters, Dr. R. O. Tripp, a forty niner, passed away today at the age of 92. Besides the distinction of having been a pioneer of this state Dr. Tripp was one of the first dentists to practice in San Francisco, having hung out his shingle in a ramshackle house at the corner of Vallejo and Stockton streets in the early days.
For 60 years the pioneer has carried on general merchandise business in Tripps, a small village 10 miles from this city. The structure in which the small stock was housed is one of the landmarks of San Mateo county, and although wealthy men have built magnificent homes around the store, it lost none of its rustic individuality. For many years the stage on its way to the coast has stopped at the store to drop off mail, and tourists have remarked that although surrounded by modern mansions Tripp's store was one of the few typical roadhouses built in '49 that had lost none of its value as a rural sight.
In early days Dr. Tripp was a shingle splitter in the redwood forests about his home. He entered into a partnership with J. C. Parkhurst and opened his store. For forty consecutive years he has been postmaster in the village.
He was born in New York in 1817 and came to California via Vera Cruz. The funeral will be held tomorrow afternoon and the remains will be interred in Woodside cemetery.
Source: San Francisco Call, 1 April 1909, page 8.